


The Heart of the TARDIS

by tardisdaddy



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-03 22:53:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16334789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tardisdaddy/pseuds/tardisdaddy
Summary: A haunted house in the middle of Wales shouldn't be out of the ordinary for The Doctor and her group of mates, but alas, here they were - being screamed at by a beautiful blonde woman while the house burns around them. Sounds like it'll be a right laugh.





	1. Inscriptions

Worn boots thundered down the dimly lit hallway, wood creaking around the cloaked woman as the aged house began to collapse in around her. Her friends were mere metres ahead of her, dodging fallen pieces of stairwell and doorframe as they desperately scrambled towards a bright gap at the front of the house. It was barely an hour since they had arrived. The TARDIS had whisked them away from testing out the true capabilities of the tea making facilities that had installed itself on the centre console when she redecorated. A large bell rang out indicating that the ship had managed to pick up a signal and aggressively latch onto it, causing the TARDIS to tip and pull forward. It ripped them through space and caused puddles to form on the floor due to poor tea handling. They abruptly parked on a small, misty, mid-18th Century estate. The beautifully haunting landscape indicated that they were in what would soon be the very outskirts of Cardiff. That thought alone made The Doctor tense. Cardiff was never a good sign.  
  
They staggered up to the house, each of the trio firing questions off to one another and to The Doctor – she marched in silence. Her arms swung heavily by her side as she gained traction until her forceful walk became a run. There was no caution as she blasted through the door. Her jaw tensed as she looked up the seemingly empty house. Once her little family had caught up, The Doctor span on her heels and offered a large grin. “Well there’s no big scary monsters!” She said, her eyes not keen on joining in on the smile. “Well, at least not yet! I don’t know why we are here so everyone, be careful. Don’t touch anything, other than the floor with your shoes – that should be fine and if you see anything, just say. I’d say let’s split up and look for clues but when is that ever a good idea? Other than a plot device for Scooby Doo, of course... Stay close.”

The house seemed old for its time. Chipped wooden floor boards with small engravings on paved their way. There were stories about the dark and the moon. The Doctor crouched down and ran her fingers gently along the grooves in the wood. She scrunched her face up as she awkwardly shifted to reach her for her sonic. Her arms flailed along the inscriptions and within seconds the air was filled with a voice. Her legs forced her upwards and her face stilled. “What is that? Where's it coming from?” Ryan asked. He was pressed against a banister with Yas and Graham at his side. 

“It’s bad. It’s very bad.” The Doctor said, trying to listen to the words. They were getting louder and louder, but the words were layered. It was like the audio had somehow slipped. “It's bad as in ‘let’s not be immediately scared but also maybe be concerned for the immediate future.’” She offered as some sort of support. “It is perhaps a bad sign that the words reacted to the slight pulse from my screwdriver, but hey ho, life’s barmy. Come on. Let’s go upstairs.” The Doctor’s legs propelled herself forward, up the stairs and along the landing, armed with her sonic. The words were louder now. Alongside a panel of wall was, what at first seemed like a picture, hung beautifully in a large frame. As The Doctor approached, trio in tow, the image shifted and changed. It was a mirror and trapped under the glass was a woman. A beautiful girl, yelling the words that were bashing against their eardrums. Her clothes were modern and The Doctor’s face showed nothing. There was no indication of fear, or relief. Her hand reached out to moving girl and her hand pressed against the glass. It stung her palm and the glass collapsed against her touch.

Darkness pressed against The Doctor’s chest, dragged at her heels and ripped into her ears. It was pure chaos in its most beautiful form – a screaming cacophony that was sent to seduce those who encountered it. Shards of glass crashed from the broken mirror, the face of a woman that had previously resided within disappearing from the contact to the floor. The Doctor clutched her hand tight and moved backwards. It was one less warning to heed, The Doctor supposed. Hurt eyes glanced from every piece of reflected surface baring deep into her. The woman was everywhere. They were constant reminder of heart ache that she had supressed for so many life times. Words were etched deep into the wood felt like they were crawling onto her skin. They had been there for centuries and yet, the words had immediately changed as the glass had shattered. Passages now just two words. “Oh-kayyy, back to the TARDIS.” Just as The Doctor spoke, the words around her glowed. Her eyes widened and Yas yelped. Her hand had been holding onto the banister where a part of the text had been burned her. Within what felt like seconds, a fire had ushered them down the stairs. The Doctor stood back as she let her friends run ahead. They stayed together as they clambered down the falling staircase. The Doctor couldn’t resist stopping to take everything. The glowing words, the warning screams. It was all her. Every inch of the place.

Metres ahead of her, a trio of friends cried out as they ran. “Run faster, Yas!” The Doctor bellowed to the young police officer who was falling slightly behind. She was holding tightly onto her ears as she ran, and The Doctor’s chest felt as if it would collapse in on its self as the corridor became narrower, and narrower.  The outside ahead shone. Each of her friends made the light dip as they crashed through it, Yas finally picking up her pace and pushing through.  

Shrapnel fell from the ceiling crashed around The Doctor, a large chunk of the building’s wooden frame fell onto her shoulder. She ignored it as best she could, the exit only a breath away. Her hand was clenched as she stood in the collapsing doorway and looked back at the house of nightmares. There was fire and smoke which made The Doctor choke slightly. Just before falling away from the collapsing build, she took one last look. The words “Bad Wolf” were etched on every conceivable inch of material that was left holding the house together. She sucked in the black air, spat some debris from her lips and ran.

Her three friends were sprawled out on the grass. The thick fog and smoke surrounded each of them like a blanket. “Everyone okay? Yas? Ryan? Graham?” The Doctor checked as she ran to them. She was met by panting and nods. Her hand rested on the shoulder of Graham who was breathing a little harsher than everyone else. Their eyes all fixated on a house that was now in flames. “Well that was fun! Always did love a haunted house..” The Doctor said, her large smile not as convincing as usual. Her friends all looked at her. It was noticeable that her eye contact was minimal as she spun on the spot and marched towards her TARDIS that seemed engulfed by the fog.

“Well then, can’t recover all the live long day, eh? Come on!” Her voice sounded as though it had been scorched by the fire, words sticking thickly in her throat.

“But- what’s goin’ on?” Asked Ryan as he helped Yas up from the ground. Graham pulled himself up and brushed the dust from his jacket. “And who was that girl? Was it a ghost? Are ghosts real?”

“Take a breath, Ryan.”

“Says you! And I told you, don’t talk to me like that, I’m not a kid.” Ryan said, his voice cold as his eyes dug into Graham. The older man shifted slightly and opened his mouth to retaliated, but The Doctor beat him to it.

“She was a warning.” The Doctor said. She spun on the spot to look back at the trio. “She was warning us about something. I don’t know what that something is, but I know that we won’t find the answer playing Unhappy Families so you two need to sort it out!” It was the first time The Doctor had said anything hostile towards them. They hoped it would be the last.

“We need to get back to your Earth timeline. Something isn’t right, and I’m not saying you all need to be concerned but I would very much suggest that we all take in a deep breath and hope for the best. Back to the TARDIS, now.” Her friends nodded and Yas followed swiftly behind The Doctor.  The fog cleared, and The Doctor staggered to a stop a few yards from the door. Bad Wolf has replaced each piece of writing on the blue police box. Yas looked at the woman beside her and then back at the ship. “We really need to get out of here.” The Doctor mumbled. She slipped into the TARDIS and ran up to the centre console. Within moments the ship was moving. It was a feeling that would usually be full of such joy, the prospect of a new horizon looming in the distance. Instead bells rang louder among the group and Yas watched The Doctor’s eyes grow ever darker. “I swear to you, Rose, I’m on my way.” The Doctor promised, looking down at a handle and forcing it forward. Her face scrunched up as she sucked in a harsh breath through her nose. A hard blink let a tear crash down onto her machine before she lurched forwards, and suddenly fell back. Her hand loosened for the first since leaving the house. A shard of glass sat in the palm of her hand. It hadn’t scratched an inch of her flesh, but hazel eyes stared back at her. They knew that she was telling the truth.


	2. Ley Lines

A photograph of a life she used to love was sat pride of place at Rose Tyler’s desk. It seemed, sometimes, as if it was the only item in the office that had any colour. Everything that surrounded her felt completely bland and devoid of anything that used to omit joy. Nothing was a threat to her anymore. She had already known the worst possible pain that could have come to her and it had nestled itself under her skin and now lay deep within her bones. The photograph was a picture that to anyone else would have just been nothing special at all. It would be one of a million mundane pictures that would be lost in a camera roll now. It was such an ordinary image that the thought of it made her stomach roll when she thought back to the moment it was taken. It was at Christmas. The first time she had sat down and had Christmas dinner with The Doctor. Her mum, Jackie, had taken the picture with a disposable camera. Rose and The Doctor were in paper hats from a Christmas cracker and at the very moment it had been snapped, The Doctor had just finished telling what he had dubbed “the funniest joke in the universe”. He decided he was qualified to confirm this fact, and then simply read the terrible joke that had fallen out of the cracker with his pink paper hat. They weren’t even touching in the picture and on some days, the irony stung more than most. His goofy grin practically reached both sides of the frame and Rose’s head was tipped back, laughter erupting from her. The picture was blurry too where Jackie had laughed as she took the photograph.  
  
Her gaze broke away from the picture and snapped back to her desk. She was currently typing up an action plan for the investigation of the Lune Estate. It had been dubbed the Loony Estate by many due to the fact that people who entered were often driven to insanity. Rose typed away effortlessly after having done what felt like a billion and one of these things. Working at Torchwood wasn’t as fun as she had assumed it would be. They had become less violent which was a good thing but with that, it lost all sense of adventure. It was with her implementation that it existed in it’s current form and her high status within the company was backed up by the very fact that Torchwood had been set up for her by Queen Victoria. Can’t exactly argue with those credentials. Sure, she was the boss, but that meant even less to her than anything. She had no freedom and it was stifling. Her phone lit up on her desk which showed a notification of a new Snapchat. She opened it and a terribly angled selfie of her mother and Tony, her not so little brother, pulling a silly face with the caption. It seemed like days ago she could have picked up over her head, and now he was like a proper lad. The Snap read, “thinking of u sis! x”. She grimaced and sent back some simple love hearts. 

He meant well. He also was only 10 and loved his sister more than anyone else, but today was a day worth ignoring. Ten years ago today, they had come back to Pete’s World. She had been left with John and her family. It took two days for Rose to notice something was wrong with him. She kicked herself for not noticing sooner. When The Doctor had once again broken her heart on that cursed beach, John had been there for her. Whatever The Doctor said, John wasn’t him and Rose was okay with that because this man just wanted her and she wanted him. She had him for three days. There was a reason that a Time-Lord Human Metacrisis didn’t exist. His heart just couldn’t take it. Upon investigation, it seemed that although the strongest part of him was Time Lord, that didn’t stop biological issues from taking hold. The funeral was pathetic. It made her sick, the amount of people he had saved- well, a part of him anyway, for then to have three guests attend. It was a lesson Rose had needed; the life she had been placed in was cruel. Her life would be dedicated to keeping up with the work that The Doctor wasn’t a part of. Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth, he’d said.  
  
Typing through the last through sentences of the report, a piece of the page that she had been copying from yanked the attention of Rose. A member of her team had researched the site and provided her with rough information that needed to be clarified, and then filed for reference. Her eyes focused on the precise location of the estate and her mind raced. It seemed so familiar, and usually when something feels familiar, it’s important. Rose scanned back over the information she had been inputting and properly focused on the task at hand, while her brain desperately tried to catch up with itself. You could practically see the lightbulb moment that flashed through her body as she yanked open the top drawer of her desk, grabbed her large ring-binder and flicked through it with haste. Her hand landed on the page she was looking for with a thump and she ran her fingers along the grid. A couple of years ago she had run some research within a similar vicinity of the property at hand. Thick red lines that Rose had implemented herself suddenly seemed to scream at her. Why hadn’t she noticed it before?!

A list of what had been known as “hauntings” had occurred along the lines she had drawn, which in the end, were chalked down to a “slip in time”. Nothing major, just the occasional shift. The lines ran for miles at a time but through no major landmarks. There was some kind of radiation that ran under the surface which her team had decided was causing people to hallucinate and mean that the “time slips” were due to this “radiation”. It was decided that this phenomenon showed no real threat compared to the goings on of the rest of the universe, so it was pushed aside and forgotten. That is, until now. Until The Lune Estate. She pushed away from her desk and scrambled from her large swivel chair. Running out into a common area of offices, she blazed past interns. Hammering at a button on the lift that was taking too long, she let out a disgruntled “Come _on_!”. Seconds passed before she huffed again and opted to make use of the well-situated stairs. She slipped slightly on the first set of stairs, grunted again and chucked her high heels at the wall before blasting down the next load of stairs. That was another thing that sucked about this job – constantly dressing like a CEO in a cheesy porno. At least she wasn’t in a skirt. A blouse, blazer and fitted trousers were about as far as Rose would go on the fancy front and she fucking hated it. Heels would be the death of her and smashing them against a wall was currently the highlight of her year.  

In no time she had reached the bottom, out of breath and stressed. She was greeted by a friendly face that soon faded to meet her state of exasperation. “Miss Tyler-“ “Please, we have been over this, please call me Rose- look, no, this can wait. I need to see the archives, file.. uh.. God, what was it- 104, I think?! The ley lines case in Wales? Please, it’s urgent.” The curator looked down at her bare feet, back up to Rose and slowly nodded, leading her swiftly down to the archives. They watched her intently as Rose desperately flicked through the case file. “I’m so  _stupid_!” She yelled, waiving the piece of paper that she had taken from the ring binder in her office and comparing it with the file in front of her. “They aren’t  _ley lines_... it’s the Rift! Why am I so thick, _shit_ , look!” She pointed at the map and the curator raised an eyebrow. Rose looked at them and sighed. She wasn’t trying to talk down to them but it did often feel like she was trying to describe a whole other language. “The Rift is what The Doctor uses to help.. I don’t know, I guess it like, charge the TARDIS up. It uses this energy and helps her- The TARDIS get sort of... charge.” Her eyebrows started to try and speak for her as exasperation from both excitement and the running took her breath. “Don’t you see?! We didn’t know we had a Rift. We thought that the energy was just to do with an unnatural liveliness beneath the Earth, but it’s not!” Rose’s eyes lit up again but the curator just stared blankly. “It _means_...” Rose looked at the paper again and sighed, a smile gracing her quivering lips. “It means I can go home.” She whispered, running a hand through her untamed blonde hair. Within an hour, Rose was in a car and on her way to Wales. No team, no worries.

The grip on her steering wheel just grew tighter and tighter as she spoke to her mum down the phone. Some things would just never change. Her nagging from the speakerphone ricocheted around the inside of her car.

 ----------------

“So that’s it then, is it? You just go galivanting off to some distant somewhere and leave-“ 

“It’s Wales, mum. I’m going to see a house in Wales.”

“But you’re not though! You’re going to leave me. That’s what you’re telling me, isn’t it?”  
  
Rose just bit her lip. Words were just wedged in the back of her throat, crawling back into her chest so that they wouldn’t have to escape.

“Rose Tyler, you answer me.” She barked, her shrill tone ringing her ears and flooding her stomach with guilt.

“If this is my only chance to find him-“ Rose choked, tears welling in her eyes as she tried to maintain her eyes on the road. The words of The Doctor, her Doctor, just echoed in her head. _You’re never going to see her again, your own mother!_ She sucked in a breath. “I promised I would never leave him.”

Jackie was silent. It was at least a minute before she spoke.

“I love you.” She sobbed, and Rose sobbed too.  
  
“I love you, mum. I’ll see you around though, yeah?” Jackie choked on a laugh, and the line went dead.

 ----------------

Rose tried not to think about her mum as she slammed the door of her car shut. She tried not to think about her dad as she looked around the small field that encapsulated the house in front of her. She tried even harder not to think about Tony – he loved hearing about her adventures and it broke her heart that she wouldn’t get the chance to tell him anymore stories. But it wasn’t enough – this life was slowly killing her. Her whole body just felt heavy, and sore, and just pointless. Fat lot of good she was doing sitting in an office. She sucked in the air, fog tickling her ankles. It was an overstatement to call this a house. Barely anything was left. The roof had clearly collapsed and was sat much closer to the floor than it should have. Adrenaline seemed to coarse through Rose's veins. Her heart hammered as she walked ever closer as she desperately tried to conceal a smile. Luckily, she had got some old shoes knocking around in her car boot. Doing this barefoot would not have been the best thing. Looking down at the ground to ponder the integrity of the old pair of trainers that she was wearing, Rose noticed something alarming. There were footprints leading up to the house.

Rose gulped and pressed on. It looked like multiple sets of footprints, two large looking sets and two smaller looking sets. The only really troubling thing was the fact that they only led up to the house. She looked around once more before mumbling a quiet “fuck it” under her breath. This was the most alive she had felt in ten years. She sprinted towards the unknown, but as she got to what she presumed used to be the entrance, voices echoed around the hall. Floorboards creaked but the noise felt organic. Her whole body was full of such a nervous energy, Rose didn't quite know what to do with herself. The voices weren’t scary – it was just people talking, but it was inaudible. Like she was listening through a wall. “Hello?” She called out, only for nothing to response. “Is anyone there?”. Her mind went back to the case file. If it was just the rift that was running through the building, then why were people terrified. Why could she hear voices? Rose had had enough of “ghosts” to last a lifetime. It was the reason she was here in the first place. Well, the first time. 

Her heart was racing now and as Rose began to walk, her legs felt wrong. In fact, her body felt wrong. She looked down at her hands and her eyes widened at the sight. Her hands were aglow. A beautiful yellow light encased her skin as her legs buckled beneath her. She clutched onto a cracked banister and words shot up the surface. It spread like a disease, literature crawling up every surface. Rose clenched her eyes shut and sucked in a breath. _Hallucinations,_ she reminded herself. She opened her eyes but the words remained. “Come on. Get it together.” Rose said through gritted teeth, her whole body feeling like she had been struck with the highest amount of caffeine a person can take. Her eyes tried to focus on the words written and her heart sank in her chest. “Bad Wolf...” She whispered. The voices continued to reach out around the ruins.

Rose found a set of collapsed stairs, and in the midst of it all, shards upon shards of broken glass. As she moved closer, a reflection seemed to emerge. She crouched beside the mess of wood and glass and the words became louder. Rose reached out and grabbed a large shard, a distorted image of a group of people glanced back at her. Her hands suddenly glowed bright, and then everything went dark.


	3. Cowbridge

It felt as though a large magnet had secured itself to the TARDIS console. The Doctor’s focus was fully concentrated on ensuring she didn’t damage her ship as it attempted to fly on autopilot. “Y’see, Bad Wolf is something that has been spread across my life, _well…_ ” She caught a glimpse of herself in the hourglass as the sands fell. “An old life. Like a siren, warning me about impending… I don’t want to say doom, but doom.” Her arm reached down and pushed a lever up, shooting her eyes away from her new reflection.

“Should we all start practicing our evil laughs?” Graham asked, his dry humour eliciting small smirks between the three companions.

“Someone I used to travel with um, she...” The Doctor’s eyes were locked on the centre column. Yas moved closer and the Doctor’s voice dipped. The boys didn’t understand, but Yas did. She was a police officer, however overlooked, but more importantly than that, she was unbelievably compassionate. Nothing she ever asked sounded as though she was prying, and it wasn’t because of her training - it was because she was an exceptionally brilliant human being.

“Who was she, Doctor?” Yas asked quietly. Her voice was soft and comforting, but it didn’t stop the Doctor feeling queasy at the question. She glanced out the corner of her eye at the girl beside her.

“We used to travel together. Then you know, stuff happens.” The Doctor drew in a large breath and pushed a smile to her lips. “People get trapped in parallel universes and live happily ever after with a past version of yourself that isn’t actually yourself at all. The usual.” She rambled, her tone dry and lackluster. A dry laugh caught in her throat. The pathetic attempt to lighten the mood didn’t stop Yas from reaching out and touching the woman’s arm.

“Were you-?”

The Doctor looked at Yas. The air felt thick and Yas immediately swallowed her words. She looked around the TARDIS, stopping with each breath to fully take in the atmosphere that had filled the ship. Ryan and Graham looked at her with confused grimaces. Her eyes found Yas again who offered her soft eyes and an understanding squeeze to the Doctor’s arm.

“Why was she there? At the house, I mean. If she’s in a different universe. Surely that’s impossible?” Yas asked, completely unsure how those words had seriously come from her. She glanced over her shoulder back at the boys who seemed to have buried themselves deep in conversation, then looked back at The Doctor, who’s gaze was back and focused on trying to fly her ship. Yas had no idea who this brilliant woman was, where she came from or how old she was but her eyes gave more away than she had ever shared. They were filled with the most tremendous amount of fear and adventure.

“When we were traveling... something happened to her. She tried to save me and by doing so... it’s hard to explain.” The TARDIS yanked to a stop and the Doctor sucked in a harsh breath. “She absorbed some of the TARDIS’ energy and found a way to protect me. I haven’t seen these warnings since she left. I didn’t know that they were possible and the fact that they are?” The Doctor paused and finally grew enough courage to let Yas’ eyes meet her own. The Doctor looked down at herself and felt her jaw grow tight. The person Rose had loved was long gone, but it didn’t stop the way the Doctor felt. They had been together and shared part of their existence with unspoken words. Unspoken words that ended up being the reason that Rose was gone and the Doctor was alone. Her brown, quiffed hair belonged to the man she used to love. Besides, Rose still had that man. That’s all that mattered now. Her reflection made her sick. “She doesn’t need me like this.”

With a swift breath and another fake smile, the Doctor whipped around. “Boys, Yas and I are going to investigate. Stay here and look after the TARDIS. Ryan, if anything happens, call Yas and we’ll come back. Maybe you two could sort out this…” She scrambled her hands around in front of her and looked at the men. “ _...tension_. Frankly, it’s annoying and I know that eventually, you’re going to realise that you are family, related by blood or not.” Graham nodded but Ryan just rolled his eyes as he leaned back into a column.

The Doctor and Yas walked out of the TARDIS leaving an icky nervous energy behind them as the idle chat between the boys began. Ahead of them lay a calm village. It was completely still, the only sound coming from the wind dancing with a few trees that were scattered along the roadside. The sky was an idle grey colour and spots of fine rain fell against her skin. “You’ve got to love a bit of pathetic fallacy..” The Doctor remarked, cocking her head a little and scrunching the bottom of her face up. A few drops of rain fell on her face and immediately, she brushed them harshly from her cheeks.

“Welcome to Cowbridge…” Yas read from a road sign that was on the other side of the road. “Why does it say it twice?” She mused, squinting to see the version underneath which was in a slightly smaller font.

“One of them is in Welsh. The TARDIS is translating it. We are exactly where we were just a moment ago, except this is now and that was then.” The Doctor singsonged - there was no way that she could keep moping around, even if nature was daring her to.

“Rightttt…” said Yas, looking back to the Doctor. “No, sorry, what?”

“No time to explain. Yas. We need to get out of this rain and talk to some people.” She slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out her sonic. Holding it up for a moment, she then pulled it towards her ear as she scanned. “Oh, it’s a Sunday! Love Sundays, I could absolutely murder a roast dinner right now...”

“I didn’t know your spoon thing could predict what day it was.”

“It can’t, I can just smell Yorkshire puddings.” The Doctor teased as she nodded towards the pub. “Well that’s a fab start.”

“The Wolf’s Arms. Original.” Yas said as they began a slow jog towards the empty looking pub. “I don’t know where you’re smelling Yorkshires from, Doctor, but I don’t think it’s here... Doesn’t look like it’s been open this century, let alone for lunch…”

The Doctor stayed silent, eyes surveying the scene. “It’s here. It’s exactly here. Nice one, gal!” She called back over her shoulder in the direction of where her TARDIS was parked. “Spot on.” The Doctor looked around again, this time much slower. The village was quiet. Dead, even. Everything looked like it had been completely abandoned. Her sonic sat in the palm of her hand and it felt itchy. Something was off. She raised it again and read the screen. At that very moment, the ground shifted beneath their feet. Her sonic lit a glorious orange as the Earth rumbled slightly. The Doctor’s eyes shot back up to the TARDIS and worry flooded her. _“No_ … No, no, no, no, no!” She called, grabbing Yas’ hand in her own and sprinting towards her ship as it vanished into nothingness. They pulled to a stop and Yas locked eyes with the Doctor and grabbed her suddenly ringing phone from her pocket. Just as Yas went to answer, it stopped. Their eyes snapped up at one another as she redialled Ryan. It went straight to answerphone. “It’s out of range.” Yas said softly, trying to call again but to no avail. The Doctor’s sonic whirred again and she glanced at it, desperately trying to keep up with the amount of information it was displaying.

“We’re on the Rift... That can’t be right. It was blown up. It was destroyed by a friend of mine. Not exactly ethical but...” The ground rumbled and cut the Doctor off again. “Well if the Rift can break rules, then so can I!” She yelled, grabbing Yas’ hand and giving it a squeeze. “Hold on tight!” the Doctor warned, holding her sonic on once more and holding her breath. The world seemed to twist around them, a blur of colours, smells and sounds. Yas’ arms flung around The Doctor and they landed with a large metallic thump that shook the whole ship, tangled in each other on the floor of the TARDIS. The Doctor leaped to her feet and grabbed Yas by the shoulders. “You alright? Sorry, that’s not the best way to travel. We just sort of fell through the Rift. Look at me, Yas, and please don’t be sick. I’m _the_ Doctor, not _a_ doctor.” Yas’ eyes focused and she gave a weak nod.

Beside them both, Ryan and Graham were knelt. “Do you need some water, Yas?” Graham asked. She nodded again, her head wobbling slightly.

“I’ll get it, Gramps.” Ryan said, jumping up and tapping Graham’s shoulder. His glance shot up and caught that of Ryan’s. Graham beamed before looking back down at Yas. The Doctor allowed time to slow for just a short second, a soft smile landing gently on her lips. Ryan returned with a small bottle of water and handed it to the queasy girl. Reality returned in an instant as the TARDIS door burst open. Bright light flooded in and splayed across the dark centre console, the shadow of a woman spread onto the metallic floor. The very large console room seemed to shrink in silence. The Doctor’s hearts stopped.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's reading - hope you're up for a slow burn ;)


	4. Rose's Turn

It was at this moment, surrounded in darkness and rubble, Rose Tyler wondered what her life would have been like if she hadn’t swapped her shift with Sandra in 2005. Sandra got asked out by Alex, (the fit Aussie bloke on reception), and needed the afternoon off to get ready for her date. Such a minor decision had left her here in a pile of ash, leaned up against a grey brick wall. Okay, so that was probably a bit of a stretch - the world didn’t revolve around her, although sometimes she felt as though it might. Again, a little dramatic, but still. Rose reached her hands up to her face as if she was checking it was still there and blinked slowly. Her head felt as though it were full of rocks that were rattling around and bashing against her skull. Her once pristine trouser suit was was now stained and covered in dirt. Looking down at it, she smirked. Why did that look so much better than it did before? She ran her muddy palm through her blonde hair and scratched the back of her neck a little. “Oh-kay…” Rose sighed, taking her time to stand up as she glanced at the scene that surrounded her. It wasn’t the scene she had blacked out in. She was in a small graveyard, her body had been propped up by the walls of the church that stood within it. Rose could see a small village ahead of her, little brick cottages were scattered along a road. It seemed that Rose Tyler had been moved. 

Her body filled with that beautiful cocktail that was one part fear and two parts adrenaline, (add vodka as a chaser if desired). Traveling without a ship was never a good feeling. It left a metallic taste on her tongue and she felt a little dizzy. As her mind skipped through theories of transmatt beams and alternate-dimension cannons, she decided that this information wasn’t the most crucial question that her penny-tasting tongue wanted to ask: who’s world was she on? It looked the same as the Earth she had been living on for the past ten years, but there was no way to be completely certain of that. If she was going to get any answers, asking around would be a good place to start. She shuddered as rain splashed lightly against her skin and took that as a sign to get moving. 

Rose walked carefully between each of the gravestones, silent respect scattering among them as she moved. This wasn’t a place to run, Rose thought. Once her feet found the trodden path it wasn’t long before she reached the rusted, black gate that provided her exit and opened onto a slim road. A small sign read: “Y Bont-Faen”, however, more importantly read: “Welcome to Cowbridge.” Rose fumbled in the back pocket of her trousers and fished out a folded piece of paper. Upon inspecting the map, her eye line flitted between her surroundings and the imagery that she held tightly in her hands. It seems that she was about three miles from where she had been mere moments ago at The Lune Estate. She was still alongside the “ley lines” that she had drawn out. In fact, the word Cowbridge had been crossed directly through with them. It was barely legible on the map but there was no doubt that that was where she was. 

Slips of memory seemed to keep finding their way back to her. She gazed at her hands, the glowing that had encased them before was now non-existent and it set Rose in two minds. One, she had hallucinated the whole thing and the Rift was playing off old memories and fears that were imprinted within the depths of her soul, or option number two, the world was in danger. Rose kicked herself for smiling at the second option. She thought of her Doctor’s goofy grin and boyish charm whenever the words “danger” were present and wondered at what point she had begun to replicate his joy and excitement at the principle of impending doom. He hated the word doom. It made Rose laugh. She looked left and right before crossing the empty road. The thought that this Earth could be her Earth made her feet walk quicker than she knew possible. Just as she hopped up the curb to knock on one of the cottage doors, she noticed a distinct lack of.. Well, anything. She looked up to a nearby tree that was swaying slightly. No birds.

Rose chewed her lip and then returned to knocking on the door. She waited around about ten seconds before knocking again. Nothing. The blonde slipped her hand into her pocket and grabbed her phone. It was on 13%. Typical. Her blumin mother. Guilt flooded her in an instant but she pushed past it. She had absolutely no signal, and the time read: 1:13.  
Her eyes glanced around. There was a park on the road opposite, but there were no kids. Maybe it was a weekday, she figured. Walking away from the small cottage, Rose wandered further up the road. There was a small shop that was closed, some more cottages and what looked to be an old pub. Her eyes squinted to read the sign but it was no good - “Why is everything always in bloody Welsh.”, she whined. Rose was only left for a few moments with her thoughts when the ground below began to vibrate through the thin soles of her trainers. The nervous energy that had filled Rose before in The Lune Estate was suddenly causing the same sensation through her body and her eyes immediately shot to look her hands once more. This time, the gentle glow was accompanied by a noise that sent Rose’s heart soaring. Frantically, she looked in every conceivable direction as the sound grew louder and louder.

Rose closed her eyes tight and inhaled calmly. “Come on… Come on...” She breathed, pulling in another long breath. “Please, Doctor.” The thrumming continued to fill the air as she peeled her eyes open. Rose let her smile take over her whole face. Every moment and memory and breath she had of her life with him rippled over her as their home appeared metres from her feet. She didn’t run. She didn’t cry. Rose Tyler simply walked home. She undid the top button of her blouse and reached below the collar and slowly pulled a glowing key that hung from a piece of string around her neck. It took five footsteps before she was at the door and it was that precise moment that she realised why The Doctor always stroked pieces of it. “Hello, you. You’re looking very fresh.” Rose laughed and her whole body just seemed to hum as she raised her hand and slipped the key into the lock. She tilted her hand to one side and smirked as the door clicked and she pushed it open. 

Her eyes trailed up the walkway, new colours, and shapes in front of her. It felt much darker but brighter oranges greeted her. It all felt bland as she looked up to the centre console. Four strangers raised their heads in her direction and Rose’s stomach sank. Her Doctor was gone and she was too late to say goodbye. Three shocked expressions greeted the blonde as she slowly made her way towards them One face greeted her much differently. Confusion ever present on this new face. He looked much older now. His hair looked thin but smart; yet it was his eyes that were wrong. Rose stiffened and confusion consumed her as she looked around the group. Rose’s gaze shifted from the older man and took in the look of a much younger man. He was dressed in a hoodie and pair of jeans. It was like the worst game of Guess Who? ever.

In amidst the group, a woman began to stand. She had previously been crouched beside another girl with the boys, and as she stood, Rose remembered to breathe for the first time since she had walked through the doors. A figure of wonderment and anguish rose from the pile of people and hesitantly strode towards her, slow and patient. She wasn’t much taller than Rose, less than a foot in difference, yet everything about her screamed importance. A pale grey coat rested against a beautiful pair of dark blue, cropped trousers. Large socks and boots steadily moving the woman forward. Her jaw was tight and a sharp blonde bob teasing just underneath her chin. As Rose’s eyes locked on her. Spending less than a breath looking at her, everything became clear. Gorgeous eyes pierced her own, her heart stilling as they took one another in. 

Rose timidly moved closer, each step pairing with a challenge for the other to look away. Each step echoed the millions that they had walked together. Each step backing every known certainty of every feeling that had ever been present between them. Rose was the one to close the gap once the two of them were stood with empty air between them. A shaking hand lifted from beside her and she gently pressed it against the woman’s chest. Their eyes stayed locked and their faces showed nothing as their breathing steadied. A pounding heart lay beneath Rose’s palm and slowly, led by her fingertips, she moved her hand to the other side. Another separate heartbeat met her own and Rose pulled in a large breath. “Hello, you.” She whimpered. “It’s been a while, huh?” Tears seemed to have built up in her eyes but Rose blinked them away; she didn’t want to miss a second of this moment. 

The Doctor finally let herself show something - a smile gently began to creep onto her face, as Rose’s hands shifted up. She let the blonde gently move gently over her neck, to dip her fingers under her hair and run her thumb along her sharp jaw. Their smiles grew and grew with each movement. The Doctor lead her own steady hand up to Rose’s face and carefully, she flicked a fallen tear that had rolled down her warm cheeks. “You could say that, yeah.” The Doctor mumbled, her thick accent eliciting a small chuckle from Rose. The phrase “Lots of planets have a North” ran through her and her bright smile became infectious, The Doctor’s toothy grin replicating her own.

“Why do I feel like I’m in the middle of something really important here..” The young boy’s words stopped the moment, and Rose’s hands fell from The Doctor’s face. They both looked over to the group - the three of them now all standing, as the girl hit him in the stomach. 

“Ow! What did you do that for?”  
“Shut up, Ryan.”

“So... A TARDIS team from Yorkshire?” Rose remarked, moving beside The Doctor. Their sides touched one another and their hands gently brushed against one another as Rose spoke. “London not good enough for you anymore?” She teased, shifting her elbow into The Doctor’s side.

“Well, actually I’m from London…” Piped up the older man who was definitely not The Doctor. Rose’s smile seemed to brighten up the whole room. The Doctor couldn’t help but watch the blonde interact with her new friends. It was like bringing someone home to meet the parents for the first time. 

“There we go! That’s what I’m on about… come on then, Doctor…” The world rolled so beautifully off Rose’s tongue and The Doctor swore that she was floating. Rose saw the woman snap out of whatever trance she had been in and Rose allowed herself to blush under the absence of the woman’s stare. Rose’s tongue darted over her top set of teeth as she kept her large smile present. “It’s nice to meet you…?”

“Ah yes, right! Introductions! How rude of me! These, Rose Tyler, are my new friends. This is Graham, Ryan and Yas.”

“Male companions? Never thought I’d see the day...” Rose teased, walking forward and shaking each of their hands. “It’s lovely to meet you, my name’s Rose. I uh, well I used to travel with The Doctor but he- uh.. Well, it’s complicated.” Confused looks seemed to radiate from the boys, but not from Yas (who had actually listened when The Doctor had mentioned that she used to be a white-haired Scotsman).

“You’re that ghost-girl!” Ryan remarked, the penny finally dropping. Apparently, it was now Rose’s turn to be the confused one. Rose looked up at The Doctor, who looked back at her. Their eyes glancing down at each other’s lips. The Doctor let hers dart over her bottom one and then did her best to respond accordingly.

“Yes, Ryan. She is. I told you, Rose was a warning. What were you warning me about?”  
The Doctor asked, suddenly remembering that there was some kind of world-perishing thing to worry about. 

Rose’s smile began to fade. “I thought it was you.”

“What?” The Doctor’s voice was calm but Rose could tell that it wouldn’t take much for that to change.

“I thought you were warning me.”

“Well I wasn’t!” The Doctor remarked, eyes suddenly filling with worry. “Why are you here? How did you get here?”

“I don’t know.” Rose sensed the tone in The Doctor’s voice and she didn’t like it one bit. 

“Doctor, what’s going on?” Rose asked, and The Doctor simply slipped her hand into hers, gave it a gentle squeeze and said; “I need you to stay very calm, okay?”

“You do get that by you saying that, that you’re not exactly fillin’ me with any confidence?” Rose said softly. Her eyes cast down to their intertwined hands and Rose let her eyes flutter shut. She opened them again and The Doctor’s hand had slipped from her own was now on her waist. “Ryan, gimmie a hand.” The Doctor said, Rose’s eyes closing again, this time much slower. The Doctor pulled the hand that she had been holding around her shoulder and Ryan matched on the other side as they began to lead her down the slight step and sat her down as the darkness slowly took her over once again.


End file.
